Altec Lansing Live 5000 wirelessly beams in

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Over in Vegas at CES 2012, Altec Lansing unveiled the Live 5000, a wireless speaker that builds on the success of the inAir 5000 that was unleashed back in September at IFA.

Whereas the inAir used AirPlay to wirelessly play back your tunes, the Altec Lansing Live 5000 simply uses your home's Wi-Fi connection to hook up to your audio playback devices. It is controllable from iOS, Android and desktop applications and delivers music from the web's "most popular content providers".

It uses AL's Live controller app to setup up a central playlist of your tunes. Rather than have your music sent to the cloud, it is streamed directly from each device's local library of music.

The tear-drop shape, we're told, is to provide a better sound with a more natural path for sound waves due to the non-parallel walls. There's also a tri-amp platform in place, along with neodymium tweeters, 3-inch kevlar mids and a long throw subwoofer.

"Now more than ever, there are so many different ways to experience the music we love, and it doesn’t matter if it’s from the cloud, from our individual libraries or even from our friends’ phones," said Brendon Stead, co-president, Altec Lansing. "Whether it’s for personal listening or for a party, the Live 5000 is the device that brings your music mosaic and lifestyle together in complete harmony."

The Live 5000 will cost $499.95 Stateside when it lands in the summer. We're told a UK release is coming too. You can also hook up multiple Live 5000s should you wish.